ISSN 0965ꢀ5441, Petroleum Chemistry, 2012, Vol. 52, No. 5, pp. 335–340. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2012.
Original Russian Text © T.M. Zilbershtein, V.A. Kardash, M.V. Lipskikh, V.V. Suvorova, A.K. Golovko, 2012, published in Neftekhimiya, 2012, Vol. 52, No. 5, pp. 371–376.
Kinetics of the Ethylene Trimerization Reaction on a Homogeneous
Chromium–Pyrrole Catalyst
T. M. Zilbershteina, V. A. Kardasha, M. V. Lipskikha, V. V. Suvorovaa, and A. K. Golovkob
a OOO NIOST, Kuzovlevskii trakt 2, Tomsk, 634067 Russia
eꢀmail: ztm@niost.ru
b Institute of Petroleum Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Akademicheskii pr. 3, Tomsk, 634055 Russia
Received April 09, 2012
Abstract—The results of studying the kinetics of the reaction of ethylene trimerization under the action of a
homogeneous chromium–pyrrole catalyst have been presented. It has been shown that the reaction order
with respect to ethylene decreases from 1.4 to a value close to 1 within 15 min after the start of the reaction,
which is explained by the presence of two types of catalytic centers that catalyze the reactions of the first and
second order with respect to ethylene. A model that includes the degradation of the second type of the catalyst
during the reaction and inhibition of the activity of the firstꢀtype catalyst by the products has been proposed.
DOI: 10.1134/S0965544112050131
The reaction of ethylene trimerization over chroꢀ containing cocatalyst diethylaluminum chloride
(DEAC) [8].
mium catalysts was discovered in 1967 during the
research work at the Phillips Petroleum company as a
side reaction during the polymerization of ethylene.
Although these results were patented in 1967 [1], they
were published in the scientific literature much later,
in 1977 [2]. Even at that time it was pointed out that
the dependence of the reaction rate is second order in
ethylene pressure, but detailed studies of the reaction
kinetics were not carried out. There are several papers
concerning a detailed study of kinetic relationships, in
which the kinetic features of ethylene oligomerization
on an arylꢀcyclopentadienylꢀtitanium catalyst [3] or a
CrꢀPNPNHꢀcatalyst [4] and the related reaction of
ethylene tetramerization on a CrꢀPNP catalyst were
investigated [5, 6]. It was shown that the dependence
of the reaction rate on ethylene pressure on various
catalysts can be of both the first and second order. An
intermediate order of the reaction indicating the comꢀ
plexity of its mechanism is also possible [5, 6].
Researchers have succeeded in synthesizing a series
of chromiumꢀbased catalytic complexes that do not
require additional activation and are similar in comꢀ
position to the Phillips catalyst. It was found that
chromium is in the formal oxidation state +1 in these
complexes [9], as was confirmed by the ESR spectra of
solutions of the chromium catalysts [10]. However, the
catalytic activity of these compounds in the reaction of
ethylene trimerization is relatively low compared with
the known catalysts of a nonꢀstoichiometric composiꢀ
tion.
The purpose of this work is to study the kinetic
dependences of the reaction of ethylene trimerization
under the action of a modified chromium–pyrrole
catalyst system prepared using microwave irradiation,
because it has a much greater activity in comparison
with known analogues owing to changes in the comꢀ
position and the catalyst preparation procedure [11].
Most of the trimerization catalysts described to
date do not possess precisely determined structure.
They were prepared by mixing several components—
a transition metal (usually chromium) compound, a
ligand and an activator (organometallic compound)
[7]. In this regard, the properties of the formed cataꢀ
lysts depend strongly on the ratio of the components
and the method of preparation. In some cases, modiꢀ
fiers of the catalytic activity, such as halogenated comꢀ
pounds, are added. Thus, the Phillips catalyst system
used in the industry is prepared from chromium(III)
EXPERIMENTAL
The solvents were dried by refluxing over sodium
metal followed by distillation over sodium hydride. To
prepare the catalyst, a 1.0 M DEAC solution in hexane
and a 1.9 M TEA solution in toluene were used. The
reagent 2,5ꢀdimethylpyrrole of 98% purity was used
without further purification. Anhydrous chroꢀ
mium(III) ethylhexanoate was prepared according to
a known procedure [12] with additional drying in a
vacuum of 200 Pa at 200
°С.
ethylhexanoate (Cr(EH)3),
2,5ꢀdimethylpyrrole
The microwave irradiation of solutions of orgaꢀ
(DMP), triethylaluminum (TEA), and the halogenꢀ noaluminum compounds (OACs) was conducted in a
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